First Swords & Wizardry Session - TPK

Well, it was a little anticlimactic; I've been blabbing about introducing roleplaying to people with no former experience but those players bailed on me last-minute. So, I had just two players tonight. Neither of them have any old school gaming experience but I've at least talked with them about Swords & Wizardry. One of these players is my 4e DM and he went and downloaded the free pdf after all my talk about it.

So they both knew a little of the hazards of old school gaming.

I hadn't intended to use hireling if all the expected players had come. Luckily I'd printed out Bulette's Hireling Generator and Steven Cook's Quick NPC Checklist. Even though they knew they needed hireling help desperately, the players rolled up a porter and an unarmored club wielder, haha. We were all having good laughs thinking of the unlikelihood of success.

Magnus the Magic-user and Skinny the cleric (he said he figured he'd die quickly) were investigating the history of an abandoned convent and just as they found the faded frescoe that revealed the information their patron wanted, they were set upon by four giant worker ants. Ants got initiative, plop, plop, plop-- Skinny decided to stay and fight-- and plop, down they all went.

They quickly rolled up new characters and had more success this time: a deftly cast sleep spell brought down a flight of stirges, and we ended the session with them having just retrieved a crying infant from a well (I put a bantling in a well, haha ) which was drawing more ants toward them.


We all had great fun, and plan to meet again next week.

I've been thinking about Swords & Wizardry and writing about it, but now having actually run a session, I feel even more enthusiastic. The rules were light and smooth. Cant' wait to play more. Thanks for the system and all the ideas community!

I'll try to do a more thorough post mortem on the rules later.